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Falconeye Review 27: Endless Ocean 2: Blue World
Well, here's something a little different. It's time for my review of Endless Ocean: Blue World for the Nintendo Wii. Or Adventures of the Deep if you're from Europe. Concept Before I go into the main plot, I need to explain the concept. This is an RPG game where you take control of a diver. Basically, you travel the world, exploring the oceans, learning about sea creatures, searching for hidden treasure, discovering ancient secrets, finding legendary creatures, and much more. Plot I'm going to assume you're playing the NA version. You are a former student who wants to quit schooling and become a diver. You join up with L&L (or R&R in Japan and Europe) diving sevices, which is compromised currrently of two members, Jean-Eric Louvier, a former diver who had to quit because of health issues, and Oceana Louvier, Jean-Eric's grandaughter and you're main sidekick in the game. For your first mission, Jean-Eric sends you into Gatama Atoll with Oceana to figure out your basic diving skills. After nearly being rammed by a young humpback whale, Oceana's necklace falls off and an odd sound is heard. After this, the mother humpback whale attackes you, but almost immediately calms down. Upon getting back on the boat, Oceana tells Jean-Eric the story. You say that you believe the mysterious sound was the Song of Dragons, an ancient song that's said to bring bad luck to whoever hears it. Jean-Eric excuses it as nothing more than superstition and you all got to bed... ... You wake to Jean-Eric calling you and you find out that Oceana went after her other pendant that she dropped years ago in Deep Hole (well that's an original name...), a crevasse in Southern Gatama Atoll that is infested with Tiger Sharks. Jean-Eric sends you to rescue her, and gives you a pulsar, which in addition to healing fish, also calms aggressive animals, such as sharks or crocodiles. After saving Oceana and retreaving the pendant, you and L&L diving service embark on a journey to discover the truth of the Song of Dragons, and discover the Pacifica Treasure, an ancient treasure left behind by the Oceanids that Oceana's father died trying to find. Along the way, you'll team up with Gaston "GG" Gray, a proffessional salvager, and Hayako Sakurai, a professor from the Japanese Aquarium. Will you discover the treasure and all the glory that comes with it? Or will the cursed Song of Dragons doom you forever...? Controls Well, you swim or walk with the B button, and you influence your direction by pointing the wiimote where you want to go. I'm not usually a fan of wiimote gimmicks like this, but in this game, I couldn't have it any other way. It can be awkward and doesn't work right sometimes, but overall, it works just as good as a joystick. You interact with things by pointing you're wiimote and pressing A. Diving Locations There are several areas you can explore. Most of these areas actually exist. Some are diving locations, some are areas where you do certain things. Nineball Island: This is your homebase. Here, you purchase new upgrades, uppraise treasures you found, view your quests, change your gear, and train your dolphins. Gatama Atoll: Located about a mile from Nineball Island, this reef is home to many tropical fish, and is a prime feeding ground for young Humpback Whales and there mothers. Located within this area is Deep Hole, and your own, personal private reef. Ciceros Strait: This is a strait in the Mediteranean Sea, and home to many sunken wrecks, treasure, and the imfamous maneating shark, Thanatos. It is said that in the middle ages, a castle owned by Prince Valka sunk around this area after the Song of Dragons was heard. Northern Coast of Canada: This area is a frozen area, complete with cold temperatures, Greenland Sharks, and Blue Whales. Weddell Sea: This is an area in Antarctica. It is a prime hunting ground for Leopard Seals because of the huge penguin population, and is also home to a huge iceberg imfamous for it's many hearings of the Song of Dragons. The Aquarium: This is an area where you can put animals that you've discoverd on display, and depending on how interested the customers are, you get paid a certain ammount. Cortica River: This is a tributarie of the Amazon River... talk about the definition of an acid trip. There's all sorts of animals that you'll need to avoid, including pihranna's, electric eels, and Caimans... who tend to leave you alone except around their young. In this area is an ancient shrine that is said contains a book telling the location of the Pacifica Treasure. Red Sea: The final area you'll explore. This is similar to Gatama Atoll, only half of it is open ocean instead of a reef. This is home to the twin crevasses, two chasms in the ocean that stretch down to over 600 ft. under the surface where Oceana's father died, and the Cavern of the Gods, the resting place of the Pacifica Treasure, and the Song of Dragon's birth place. Sidequests Aside from the main plot, there are also many sidequests that you can do. Some are taking people for tours of different oceans of the world, some are finding treasure, and some are discovering legendary creatures. Some of them are pretty short and kinda boring, but others almost have there own plot and will take you a few hours to complete (mostly due to the fact that you sometimes have to do certain things to unlock certain parts of the mission). You can also befriend and train dolphins and some whales. After training your first dolphin so many times, a man who claims to be the best trainer in the world visits you and challenges you to befriend every species of dolphin. These include Short-Beaked Common Dolphin, Specked Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphin, Risso's Dolphin, Orca, Amazon River Dolphin, Beluga, and a few others. After you befreind them, you can take them diving with you... which I don't really understand. Can Belugas suddenly survive in the warm fresh waters of the Cortica River, and vise versa, can the Amazon River Dolphin suddenly survive the cold, salty water of the Weddell Sea... hmmmm... this complete lack of common scence bugs me... but then again, I'm probably thinking to hard about this. Good Aspects First of all, the music is fanominal. All the music is from Celtic Woman, so if you like them, you'll probably recognize most of the tracks in this game. Some music is from something else, which I can't find, but I wish I could because I love the organ piece that plays near the end when Hayako is translating hyroglyhics. The graphics are... okay at best. It feels more like a gamecube game as far as graphics go. I mean, I know it can't be as good as the 360 or PS3, but I still think they could have done a better job. The dangerous animals add a scense of thrill and maybe even fear to the game, especially the first time you face off against Thanatos. They can be frustrating at times, but only occasionally. And if that isn't enough, there's just some light that you find inside yourself the first time you play this game. I know, I might be sounding kind of awkward here, but it's true. Bad Aspects The only thing I can think of is this game's main plot is kinda short, only taking about 5 hours the first time. But there are so many sidequests and other stuff that it doesn't even matter. Oh, and for some quests there's some constant back and forth stuff going on, it's not too bad though, so, don't fret too much about it. Family Friendliness Well, did I mention the ancient curses. The only other thing is the sharks, which can be quite frightening at times. However, they never actually bite you, just slap you around a bit, and you can't die in this game. I f you get smacked around too much, you're air will go down and you'll return to the boat. Conclusion Well... I personally love this game. Although I'll say one thing, I would only reccomend it to people who like to learn, have a passion for the ocean, or at least an interest in Marine Biology or Oceanology. If you don't have any of those things, use extreme caution. But if you have an interest in one of those areas, pick this up, you'll probably love it. If not, you should probably rent it first. I'll give it an 8/10 with the title of EPIC!!!!! Next Time, on Falconeye Reviews... I travel to a galaxy far, far away to review a game I promised to review a long time ago, in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the Nintendo Wii.